3Mers Making a Difference during the Pandemic

Below are the remarks I shared during the Eisenhower Award Virtual Celebration. Business Executives for National Security (BENS) recognized 3M for our leadership and service.

Thank you, General Votel, and the entire BENS organization, for this recognition, and for all you do to make our country stronger, safer and more prosperous.

Thank you also to Congresswoman McCollum, for your very kind and generous words, your leadership, and your distinguished service to America and to Minnesota.

This award belongs to the hardworking men and women of 3M. It’s a testament to their ingenuity, their resiliency, and their passion for making a difference. On their behalf, I am honored to accept it.

President Eisenhower, when he was Commander of the Allied Forces, famously said: “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

The same can be said for businesses today. No one could foresee the challenges 2020 has brought. Everyone’s plans have been upended. But at 3M, we were prepared to meet this moment.                                                   

Great people have built a great company, with outstanding technology and manufacturing capabilities. Our teams are close to our customers, and they move quickly and with agility – and perhaps most importantly, they are aligned around a singular vision.

3M’s vision is simple, yet aspirational: to apply our science to improve every life. And I couldn’t be more proud of how 3Mers have found new and better ways to do that throughout the pandemic.  

When COVID-19 hit, we doubled our production of respirators almost overnight to protect nurses, doctors, and first responders.  And we’ve continued to expand our capacity. By the end of 2020, we will have distributed 1 billion respirators across the United States.

Our filtration technology is speeding the development of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. We’re helping economies re-open by supplying more PPE to areas with critical need, such as industrial manufacturing.

That’s the work we do, and it’s important. The people who do the work… well, they’re extraordinary.

Throughout this pandemic, what’s inspired me most is the heart of our people. We had hundreds of 3Mers volunteer – at a moment’s notice – to pack up and relocate to one of our manufacturing plants in Nebraska, sacrificing time with family. Retirees have come back to help staff our respirator hotline, answering calls from their homes. People all across 3M are stepping up to help our country, and the world, get through this crisis.  

Public-private partnerships are critical. Our collaboration with the Department of Defense, along with great companies like Ford, is further accelerating PPE production. And we’re partnering with MIT to work toward a new, faster diagnostic test that can be mass-produced.

The pandemic has reinforced the importance of science across our society. COVID-19 is rapidly transforming how people live, work and communicate. Years’ worth of changes are unfolding in a matter of months, creating challenges only science can solve.

We are committed to ensure America remains the strongest, most innovative economy the world has ever known. This includes inspiring young innovators from all backgrounds, because there is tremendous power in diversity. 3M is a longtime leader in advancing STEM education, and we are redoubling our efforts here to advance equity and economic opportunities in communities of color.

Addressing today’s most pressing challenges will take all of us working together: governments, businesses, NGO’s, and academia. I thank the BENS organization for all you do to promote economic growth, security and opportunity for all.